Ladder rules

U126 Standard Play Ladder All Year Round Tournament Rules

1) A new ladder shall start not before the 1st September in any given year for players graded below ECF grade 126 or its equivalent as at that date. Entry to the tournament and initial placements on the ladder shall be determined by the then published grading lists for members of the Club and otherwise at the discretion of the Tournament Secretary.

2) Any subsequent published grading lists shall be disregarded for the purpose of participation eligibility.

3) The tournament shall run until the last Tuesday in July.

4) Late applications for admission to the tournament will be sympathetically dealt with by the Tournament Secretary. However all late participants will start at the bottom of the ladder.

5) The ladder shall be displayed on the Club’s website and at the Club. These rules and results shall be available on the website.

6) Any applicable entry fees and prizes (if any) shall be set by the Committee and published at the start of the competition.

7) The rate of play shall be all moves in 75 minutes per player (2 ½ hour session) starting no later than 8:15pm if played on a club night. Adjournments are not permitted. Article 10 and in the absence of an arbiter Appendix D of the FIDE Laws of Chess shall apply [see further rule 23) below]. Standard or digital clocks can be used. If using the DGT select setting 3 and set to 1:15.00 for both

8) Allocation of the white pieces shall be determined by lot or toss.

9) Players are reminded that they must record the moves save where a player has less than 5 minutes remaining on his/her own clock.

10) All games must be played on a Club Night unless agreed by the Tournament Secretary. For pre-arranged games played at the Club the default time is 8:15pm.

11) Requests to play a challenge game on other occasions may be permitted in advance at the discretion of the Tournament Secretary. Any player who fails without good reason communicated in advance to attend a pre-arranged game shall be defaulted.

12) Any defaulted player shall be relegated to the bottom of the ladder. Persistent offenders shall be withdrawn from the tournament.

13) Once a game has been arranged neither player may make or accept another challenge until their game has been played. Re-challenges between the same players shall not be permitted within three weeks of a game being played.

14) Club Matches, Club Championship games and pre-arranged Ladder challenge games shall take precedence.

15) A player may challenge any other player on the 5 rungs above.

16) To make a challenge:

a) Identify the players you can challenge [applying rules 15) and 13) above];

b) See which of them is available to play [having regard to rule 14)] and challenge them;

c) Otherwise, a challenge can be scheduled by agreement for the following club night and subject to rule 11) on an alternative date in between.

17) Any player who in the opinion of the Tournament Secretary unreasonably declines a challenge shall be relegated to the bottom of the ladder.

18) Results of games must be communicated to the Tournament Secretary by both players without delay (and in any event within 48 hours) either in person or by message to the designated phone number and e-mail address.

19) Results shall include the names of both players, who had the white pieces, the date played, the time concluded and the result. A single score or other notification sheet signed by both players will suffice.

20) Results shall be submitted by the Tournament Secretary for grading.

21) If the lower player wins, then the lower player is moved into the higher player position who is then moved down one position. All the players in between these two players are also then moved down one position.

22) If the higher player wins or the game is drawn there are no position changes.

23) Save as varied by these rules, the FIDE laws of Chess including Appendix G quick play finish rules (but excluding Article G4). See our Ladder Quick Play Finish Guidance as to when a draw can be claimed in your last two minutes.

For the purposes of Article G5 any member of the Committee graded above ECF 125 present may act as arbiter. Where no Committee member is available a claim cannot be made under Article G6 unless that player has continued to keep a record of all of the moves, which shall then be submitted to the Tournament Secretary for a decision applying the FIDE Laws. Their decisions shall be final.

24) Disputes where at least one complete record of the moves is available shall be determined by the Tournament Secretary or by any member of the Committee present where no score is available. Their decisions shall be final.

25) Any point not covered by these Rules shall be determined by the Tournament Secretary whose decision shall be final.